New Year according to the old style is celebrated on the night of January 14. According to tradition, groups of carolers visit households to wish them a prosperous year. On January 14, children will go ‘sowing’ wheat or corn in order to multiply the gifts of earth. Instead, the people will give them walnuts, candies, knot-shaped bread and money, IPN reports.
On January 14, the Orthodox Christians who follow the old Julian calendar observe the Feast of Saint Basil the Great, Bishop of Caesarea, who is one of the most important parents of the Orthodox Church and one of the greatest Christian theologians. The Prayers of Saint Basil are read on this day. These are seldom red. After the Divine Liturgy officiated in the morning, the priest ‘sows’ the parishioners with wheat or corn, wishing them health and prosperity in the new year. The Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great is sung ten times a year, on particular days.
The difference of 13 days between the holydays of the Orthodox Christians who follow the old and new calendars appeared in 1924, when some of the faithful refused to adopt the Gregorian calendar, keeping the Julian one. The New Year according to the old style is also celebrated in Armenia, Belarus, Latvia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Georgia and some cantons in Switzerland as well as in Serbia and Montenegro as the Serbian Orthodox Church, as the Russian one, continues to use the Julian calendar.
